Breathing SPACE – a practical approach to the breathless patient.

Breathlessness is a common symptom which may have multiple causes in any one individual and causes which may change over time. Breathlessness campaigns encourage people to see their GP if they are unduly breathless. Members of the London Respiratory Network collaborated to develop a tool which would encourage a holistic approach to breathlessness, which was applicable both at the time of diagnosis and during ongoing management. This has led to the development of the aide memoire “Breathing SPACE” which encompasses 5 key themes – Smoking, Pulmonary disease, Anxiety/psychosocial factors, Cardiac disease and Exercise/fitness. A particular concern was to ensure that high value interventions (smoking cessation and exercise interventions) are prioritised across the life-course and throughout the course of disease management. The approach is relevant both to well people and in those with an underling diagnosis or diagnoses. The inclusion of anxiety draws attention to the importance of mental health issues. Parity of esteem requires the physical health problems of people with mental illness to be addressed. The SPACE mnemonic also addresses the problem of underdiagnosis of heart disease in people with lung disease and vice versa, as well as the systematic undertreatment of these conditions where they do co-occur

Effects of Degree of Particle Melt and Crystallinity in SLS Nylon-12 Parts

Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) traces for SLS Nylon-12 parts display two distinct melt peaks, which have been related to the presence of both melted and crystallised regions, and un-melted particle cores within the part. The relative proportions of each region are defined by the term ‘Degree of Particle Melt’ (DPM), and have a large effect on the mechanical properties of a part. This paper demonstrates that the % crystallinity of SLS Nylon-12 parts is dependent on the DPM. Crucially, research has also shown that the trends for some tensile properties (notably Tensile Strength and Young’s Modulus) change once full melting is complete.Mechanical Engineerin

Reskilling staff for digital libraries

In academic libraries, the digital library world has had a profound impact on staffing. Academic libraries are facing huge pressure on their staffing levels at a time when digital libraries are being introduced. Digital libraries cannot be divorced from ordinary libraries. What skills do traditional librarians need? There is little in the literature on training for staffing for digital libraries. Consequently, evidence from a recent PhD gleaned from research interviews of these digital libraries case studies is included in this paper. This research uncovered a variety of different management and organizational issues and revealed the large cost of personnel in the implementation and maintenance of digital libraries

Road Pricing: The Potential for Comparative Monitoring. A Report to the London Planning Advisory Committee.

This study was designed to review the proposals for road user charging in the Randstad, Stockholm, Oslo and Singapore, to determine the intentions for monitoring of each of these proposed schemes, to assess the implications for the development of policy in London, and to identify any opportunities for obtaining experience which would help in clarifying the uncertainties associated with proposals for road pricing in London. The study reviewed the objectives and operational requirements for road pricing in London and the criticisms levelled against such proposals. On this basis it developed a series of requirements for monitoring and information gathering to help clarify the outstanding uncertainties. These were used as a check list for a series of discussions with those responsible for proposals in the case study cities. Discussions indicated that the proposals in most cities had changed markedly in the period since the study was commissioned. These changes, and the resulting nature of the proposals, meant that only the proposals for Stockholm were sufficiently similar to those in London to justify collaborative monitoring. The report recommends that such collaboration be developed. However, both the Randstad and Oslo schemes offer the opportunity for obtaining information on actual or predicted user response, while the Singapore proposals will provide valuable experience of new technology. It is recommended that all of these are pursued. The discussions highlighted several lessons of direct relevance to the development of policy in London. In particular it is seen as important to keep the specification of the measures simple; to pursue extensive consultation with those who might be affected and with all political parties and government bodies who might be involved in policy decisions; to provide clear guidance on the anticipated uses of the revenue: and to develop a system which is implemented flexibly, so that problems can be remedied as they arise. In this context, the role of assessment and monitoring is limited. It should not be used to delay decisions; however, once a commitment is made to proceed, experience from elsewhere will be of value in informing the consultations. A carefully designed monitoring programme will be important in assessing and enhancing a scheme once implemented. It is recommended that the monitoring programme should be based on the requirements identified in this report

Laser melting functionally graded composition of Waspaloy((R)) and Zirconia powders

An approach for fabricating functionally graded specimens of supernickel alloy and ceramic compositions via Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is presented. The focus aimed at using the Functionally Graded Material (FGM) concept to gradually grade powdered compositions of Zirconia within a base material of Waspaloy® . A high power Nd:YAG laser was used to process the material compositions to a high density with gradual but discrete changes between layered compositions. The graded specimens initially consisted of 100% Waspaloy® with subsequent layers containing increased volume compositions of Zirconia (0-10%). Specimens were examined for porosity and microstructure. It was found that specimens contained an average porosity of 0.34% with a gradual change between layers without any major interface defect

Planning the Taiwan Access Management Federation based on Shibboleth

There are a number of different ways in which it may be verified that a user at a computer attached to the internet may be certified as being entitled to use an electronic resource (usually one that has to be paid for) held on a server elsewhere on the internet. Authentication by Internet Protocol is appropriate when the user is in a fixed environment but to enable a user to have wider access other mechanisms are needed, the most universally applicable being authentication relying on the information provided by an access management federation using Shibboleth. Shibboleth is a standard-based, open source software package for web single sign-on across or within organizational boundaries. It allows sites to make informed authorization decisions for individual access of protected online resources in a privacy-preserving manner. The requirements for the security of the solution particularly regarding the intellectual property rights of the owners of the data are discussed. Various possible solutions are outlined based on those in use in the UK Federation, the US InCommon system, the Swiss SWITCHaai, and the Australian Access Federation. The framework and development leading to the implementation of the Taiwan Access Management Federation (TAMF) primarily follow the SWITCHaai and to a lesser extent the other three Federations. The history, management structure, software used and the organization participants in the four federations that TAMF follows are discussed. The progress of TMAF is described as well. It is hoped that this could serve as a model for federations around the world

An evaluation of implementing Koha in a Chinese language environment.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate issues of different scripts in the same record (in MARC21 and Chinese machine-readable cataloguing (CMARC)) and Chinese internal codes (i.e. double-byte character set) when implementing Koha. It also discusses successful efforts in promoting the adoption of Koha in Taiwan, particularly the contributions from Koha-Taiwan. Design/methodology/approach – A Koha CMARC/MARC21 testbed was set up to discuss issues of multi-scripts and Chinese internal codes when implementing Koha, and to determine to what extent the various features of CMARC, which are not present in MARC21, such as linking fields, can be supported in Koha and what is required to implement them if they are not available. Findings – In contrast to western characters, Chinese internal codes cause extra work, as special programming for character conversion is required when working with Koha. This situation is commonly seen in Asian countries such as China, Japan and Korea. This paper recommends implementing CMARC, MARC21 or even any other type of MARC format in Koha with strong commercial-level support. Practical implications – Koha-Taiwan serves Koha Chinese users around the world. A successful Koha-Taiwan could be a model around the world. Originality/value – In recent years, the concept of implementing an open-source library management system has been coming to the fore. In Taiwan, the local-based commercial library system covers more than one quarter of the library system market in academic libraries because the company provides better tailor-made support, mainly in scripts and multiple internal codes, than do western-based commercial library systems. Evaluations and conclusions from this paper will be useful to countries where multi-scripts and double-byte character sets are issues

A study of XML in the library science curriculum in Taiwan and South East Asia

This paper aims to investigate the current XML-related courses available in 96 LIS schools in South East Asia and Taiwan’s 9 LIS schools. Also, this study investigates the linkage of library school graduates in Taiwan who took different levels of XML-related education (that is XML arranged as an individual course or XML arranged as a section unit in courses) and their professional qualification. Research questions include what is the availability of XML-related courses in countries in Taiwan and South East Asia? What are Taiwan LIS graduates’ views on degree of XML-related courses satisfaction, cognition of learning XML technology, and views of XML-related courses? What is the linkage of Taiwan LIS graduates who studied different levels of XML-related education and their professional qualifications? This study applies 3 research methodologies: information gathering from the internet; questionnaire surveys; in-depth interviews. Results of the analysis show that LIS schools should provide optional XML-related courses with practical sessions, and library associations should provide regular XML-related continuing education to enhance LIS students’ professional qualifications

Music and Dance in respiratory disease management in Uganda: A qualitative study of patient and healthcare professional perspectives

Introduction: Music and dance are increasingly used as adjunctive arts-in-health interventions in high-income settings, with a growing body of research suggesting biopsychosocial benefits. Such low-cost, low-resource interventions may have application in low-resource settings such as Uganda. However, research on perceptions of patients and healthcare professionals regarding such approaches is lacking. Methods We delivered sample sessions of music and dance for chronic respiratory disease (CRD) to patients and healthcare professionals. Seven participants took part in one singing and dance sample session. One patient completed only the dance session. We then conducted an exploratory qualitative study, using thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with the healthcare professionals and patients regarding i) the role of music and dance in Ugandan life and ii) the perceived acceptability and feasibility of using music and dance in CRD management in Uganda. Results We interviewed 19 participants, made up of eleven patients with long-term respiratory conditions and eight healthcare professionals, who were selected by purposeful convenience sampling. Four key themes were identified from interview analysis: Music and dance: 1) were central components of daily life; 2) had an established role supporting health and wellbeing; 3) had strong therapeutic potential in respiratory disease management. A fourth theme was: 4) the importance of modulating demographic considerations of culture, religion and age. Conclusion Music and dance are central to life in Uganda, with established roles supporting health and wellbeing. These roles could be built on in the development of music and dance interventions as adjuncts to established components of CRD disease management like pulmonary rehabilitation. Through consideration of key contextual factors, and co-development and adaptation of interventions, such approaches are likely to be well received

Effect of Section Thickness and Build Orientation on Tensile Properties and Material Characteristics of Laser Sintered Nylon-12 Parts

It has been suggested that different section thicknesses in Laser Sintered parts may cause variations in mechanical properties, and this has previously been demonstrated for some properties (e.g. fracture toughness). The research presented here investigates whether the same is true of tensile properties, and whether the orientation of parts within the build volume has any effect on this. Results are presented for three different orientations of tensile specimens, at a range of thicknesses from 2mm to 6mm, showing that, at any of the orientations tested, the section thickness had no significant effect on any of the main tensile properties. These results are in direct contradiction with related research investigating the effect of section thickness on Fracture Toughness, where an increase in thickness also increased the toughness of the parts. This highlights the importance to Additive Manufacturing users of identifying the correct properties to assess when choosing a suitable process or material, and when designing complex parts.Mechanical Engineerin